Illegal move at the 1974 Canadian Open

The Canadian Open in 1974 attracted an imposing field, including GMs Bent Larsen, Ljubomir Ljubojevic, Vlastimil Hort, Duncan Suttles and Miguel Quinteros. My own sharpest memories of the event are centered around an incident that occurred on one of the lower boards.

On a board near mine, one of the players blundered his Queen away right in the opening. As soon as his opponent captured the errant Queen, the player stopped his clock, jumped to his feet, and rushed out of the playing hall.

The victorious player paused for a few minutes, examining the nearby games, and then started to leave. As he reached the exit, his erstwhile opponent leapt out from behind a large potted plant, kicked him in the nuts, and ran away.

This was clearly an illegal move.

The tournament director was summoned to deal with the matter. He consulted with the offended player and with the other tournament-hall officials, then phoned the Montreal Police.

The Police arrived with commendable promptitude, interviewed the tournament director and the injured player, then settled down to wait for the start of the next round.

Sure enough, the assailant showed up for his next-round pairing, and was immediately arrested and taken away by the Police.

It's generally believed that the temporary initiative isn't worth a jail term, though... especially in a clock game, where you are likely to over-step your time limit before your lawyer can bail you out of jail.

The Two Nuts' Gambit is a very aggressive attacking choice for the player with the Black pieces. The unprepared opponent is taken off guard and completely decimated by this opening; however, it is very unsound. An opponent who has prepared with the Cup Variation has very good chances of reaching a winning position.

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